Product Description

The Umenzi Tribesmen is the sixth faction for Battleground: Fantasy Warfare, the award-winning tabletop wargame in which cards, rather than expensive miniatures, represent your forces. The Umenzi Tribesmen draws inspiration from the great Zulu armies of earth as well as a cinematic take on Voodoo, adding a new level of magic to Battleground play. As with previous Battleground factions, the Umenzi Tribesmen is packaged in two decks. Starter decks include all the cards needed to play -- 18 units, the 30-card Command deck and two reference cards -- plus the basic rules. Reinforcement decks include 50 unit cards, including two types not found in the Starter, plus the advanced rules.

Product Reviews

(This is a review of two of the armies for Battlegrounds. I’ve
already reviewed the game elsewhere – this is just a discussion of
those armies.)

Dwarves:

The units included in this army are Bowmen, Crossbowmen, Hammermen,
Militia, Axemen, Battleaxemen, Ballista, Shortbeards, Longbeards,
Spearmen, Miners, and Antonian Horsemen (the only unit that is not
Dwarven in race).

The stats for the units are about what you would expect from a
traditional Dwarf army. The entire army is slow as molasses, with
only the Horsemen able to move farther than 2.5 inches. On the
flipside, they can take a good amount of damage – eight of the unit
types can take twelve damage before running. Their courage is fairly
high for the most part, hovering around 12; but their armor is
amazing, making them some of the best units to get into close combat.

My personal favorite of the bunch is the stalwart Longbeards. These
slightly expensive warriors (394 points) pass all fear checks and have
some of the best toughness of the game. They are easily the center of
the line, but in reality there are going to be very few weak points in
the Dwarf line. The Shortbeards are the cheapest unit, but they can
hold their own fairly well, although they do pale compared to the
regular army. With little cavalry, the Dwarven army isn’t going to be
one that outflanks the opponent. Instead, they must use archers (or
the wonderful Ballista) to back up their line and simply crunch the
opponent.

At first, I was a bit wary of using the Dwarves, as I felt that the
strategy would be limited – simply run up and engage the enemy. But
two things changed my mind.

The first was the command card deck for the Dwarves. It has a lot
of the same types of cards as the other decks, but it also has Rune
cards. These cards are two colors, and sometimes they allow the
player a choice of one of two options. For example, the Rune of the
Wary allows a player to add one to their defense and three to their
courage before being attacked OR simply three to their courage before
rolling any courage check. Others give a good bonus but limit other
cards played on the unit. The Rune of the Warrior gives two extra
dice and two extra courage but allows no other offensive Command cards
to be played on the unit. These cards allow a little variety to the
Dwarf race.

Even better, each Dwarven unit has a small box on the front of the
card – the Rune of Uruz. The Dwarf player may use a Command action to
check the box, which gives that unit an extra attack die for the
remainder of the game (!), or until they are routed. It’s tempting to
do this for all one’s units quickly, although it means that the player
forgoes other options. The Dwarves can also use a Command Action to
“sprint” (move 3.5 inches), but this isn’t as useful as the Rune of
Uruz rune. Fortunately for the dwarf enemies, this Rune doesn’t
effect ranged actions, but it does make some nasty dwarves even more
annoying!

Umenzi:

Without a doubt, the Umenzi are the most varied army thus far in the
game (even more than the Undead), making them very fascinating to
play. The units included in this army are the Spearmen, the
Javelineers, the Warriors, High Priests, Chosen, Beserkers, Initiates,
Worthy, Possessed, the Atlatlmen, the Shaman, and the Giant War Elephant.

Let’s get the Elephant out of the way first, since it’s all people
are going to notice. I don’t think I’ll ever field a Umenzi army
without it, if only for the sheer grandiose “coolness” of it. It’s
the first “Colossal” unit in the game, which means that it is composed
of two cards, is easier to hit (anyone on the table can most likely
see it), and tougher to wound. It’s also “Terrifying”, which is
similar to “Fearsome” from the original game, except that Fearsome
units are afraid of it, and normal units make a fear check against it
at “-1”. One pays dearly to get this sucker on the table (523
points!), and it’s difficult to maneuver – but who cares! It’s an
elephant, although it closely resembles the giant elephantish monsters
from Return of the King. It can make two attacks – a close combat
attack, as well as a ranged attack from the archers on its back. If
you see one of these in your opponent’s army, it’s time to weep. My
new favorite unit in the game, it has sixteen hit points!

The other units are interesting, as many of them have low morale
checks. However, if they are within the leadership range of some of
the other units (such as Shamans, Worthy, Chosen , and High Priests),
their morale goes up to a much stronger level. This encourages the
Umenzi player to keep their leaders in key positions, even if they are
weaker – only to encourage the other units. Berserkers don’t need to
be near leaders, as they pass all morale checks. Sadly, this is
balanced by the fact that they always have the Close standing order.
Possessed are some of the cheapest units in the game (77 points), but
are easily destroyed and get few bonuses. Javelineers are neat in
that they have a small short-range attack but can also make this
attack freely when making a final charge into close combat.

Shamans and High Priests are where it’s all at, however. They can be
given a special “Follow” order, which allows them to move towards the
nearest friendly unit – out of danger. This is nice, since they are
pathetically weak and easily destroyed. More importantly, however, is
the fact that they can cast one spell per turn if they were not
engaged this turn. The four spells are:

Hex: gives an opponent’s unit one less die for their next attack.

Bless: gives a friendly unit one more die for their next attack.

Heal: removes one damage from a friendly unit, transferring it to
the caster (although the caster can heal themselves with no penalty).

Death Curse: (only High Priests) – does one damage to a unit and one
damage to the caster. This is a deadly spell, which allows you to
nick away at a much more expensive unit – like those annoying trolls
or Ents.

This means that if you are playing Umenzi, you better take at least
one High Priest and a Shaman or two. While they may be weak, they are
leaders, cast spells, and generally keep the rest of your units
together. The Umenzi units (except the elephant) are generally weaker
units with normal speed. It’s the spells that keep them going.

The army also has the ability of “Faith Armor”. Like the dwarves,
the Umenzi may check a box they have on each unit card to cancel the
next point of damage, erasing that mark instead. The Possessed and
Elephant don’t have this ability, but it really comes in handy for the
other units – especially the vulnerable High Priest. The deck for the
Umenzi is as varied as the army, with some “Devotion” cards in it,
allowing them to play havoc with the opposing army. Examples:

Devotion of Karma – play after your unit takes damage to do one
damage to the attacking unit.

Devotion of Fury – Play to get one extra point in Power and one
extra point in Offensive skill, if within range of a leader.

While I’ve talked at quite lengths about the Umenzi, and I LOVE the
elephant, they are a difficult army to utilize. An opponent can
easily cripple them by killing off the High Priests and other leaders,
then picking apart the remainder. The theme of them is a refreshing
addition to this fantasy game – that of mystic tribal forces from Africa.

In summary:

Dwarves are easy to use but have more options than initially appear.
They are slow, but tough and strong.
Umenzi are not for beginners, but offer some really interesting
combinations, and have a very unique feel.

I think I like Dwarves a little better, although I’m still sticking
with my Undead army; unless I can use that Elephant. Then I’m always
happy.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”

Other Resources for Battleground Fantasy Warfare: Umenzi Tribesmen:

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